Bessemerizing copper matte.



TED STATEd WENT FFTQE.

JAMES B. nnnnnsnorr, an, on NEW YORK, N. 32., ASSIGNOR 'ro NICHOLS oorrnn 00.,

or NEW roan, N; Y., A CORPORATION on NEW YORK.

IBESSEMERIZING- COPPER MATTE.

Ne Drawing.

To a?! el /1071. it ilN/j/ concern lie it known that 1, JAMES B. I'IERRE- suorr, Jr; a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Richmond Hill, borough of Queens, city and State of New York, have invented-a new and useful Improvement in the Process of Bcssemerizing Copper Matte, of which the following; is a specification.

In obtaining copper. from its ores it has been customarv fir t to treat ores in a blast furnace to obtain copper matte, consisting principally of sulfids of copper and iron, and then. treat said matte in. a Besse-. mer converter for the purpose of removing.

therefrom the sulfur and iron constituents.

During; the blowing process the iron sulfid,

is oxidized to iron 'oxid' and sulfur dioxid gas. The latter escapes from the mouth of the eonvertcr-while the iron oxid attacks the. lining of the converter in the case of an acid-lined converter or the siliciou-s material added to the bath asis always done when the converter is lined with a neutral. orbas ic material. There is thus formed a silicious slap; containing iron, which is easily removablgzfrom themolten mass of copper bearing material. After the slag thus formed has been removed, the molten mass of copper bearing material, which consists principally ofsuliid copper, and is termed white mctald, is again SUbJOOlQCl to a blowingprocess by which sulfur dioxid is evolved and metallic copper, is produced in the converter. The copper is subsequently treated preferably in a reverberatory furnace for the purpose of further purifying and refining it. This process oxidizes the small amount of sulfur which the copper may contain and also oxidizes some of the copper into copper oxid, which latter attacks the silica. lining of the reverbcratory fur nace and forms'a slag containing copper silicate as well as some of the ashes from the firebox of the furnace.

My invention contemplates improvements in the above described process of bessemerixing copper matte by which the above men tioned reverbcralory slag is utilized, heat,

heretofore wasted is conserved, and the ciliciency of the process is otherwise generally augmented.

The practice of my invention is illustrated by the following specific examples. I wish 'it be understood; however, thatv my invention is not necessarily limited-to the ex- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11 3 1 Application filed August 12, 1912. Serial No. 71mm. 1 I

act processes set forth but is capable of many variations.

Ei iamp'lel Using two orjmore converters, siliclous materlal is introduced into the firstpart of the iron in the matte is'removedw This slag is now poured off and afcharge ofsi'hcious material 1s introduced into the converter which is in excess of that required to removethe iron content of the bath. Air is again blown through the mass until the iron has been removed therefrom'in the form. of slag and white metal is'produced. The slag and excess silicious material above the white metal is viscous ornon fluid. The white metal is now removed from the converter and introduced into the second converter, as for instance by pouring, it, from under the slag into the second converter in which it is blown to blister-copper in the usual way. The first converter is lined with a basic or neutral lining, which may consist of magnesite bricks, chromebricks or the former being preferred. The silicious material left in the first converter gradually settles the white metal is being removed the like. The second converter may be provided with a baslc, neutral, or acid lining,

and finally rests upon the bottom of the conv .verter. A new-charge of matte is now introduced and the before.-

Example II: Using a single converter, silicious material and matte are introduced and air is blown through the mass as before. The slag is rcmoved,'more silicious material is added and a second blow is produced and this process is continued until white metal produced; Instead of introducing frac-. tional amounts of silicious material, the requisite amount may be introduced in one charge. The slag is removed from the white metal and the latter is 'now blown to blister copper. Immediately before the copper is poured, silicious material 'is placed in the converter. otherwise removed from below this material. after which a new charge of matte is introduced and the whole process is repeated.

It will be seen that in both examples I introduce silicious material into the converter and upon the bath or charge therein, which is inert or not affected chemically by process is continued as The copper is then poured or'.

" would otherwise be wasted;

the liath, but-\i'hich is heated thereby. This obviously utilizes the heat of the bath which he heat-ed silicious material is now brought into conor more converters are used I only from matte and at no time tact with molten matte of a second charge and tends to raise the temperature of the matte, whereas in previous processes the lntroduction of sllici-ous material reduced the temperature of the matte and necessi-- tated the blowing of air for a time to raise the temperature to its original. point.

contain a large percentage of copper, th'ose. poured from a bath of copper containing much more copper than those poured from a bath of white metal and that they must be subsequently treated at great expense to obtain the copper content thereof. I

In the operation of my proce'ssin anyof its forms I'at' no time pour slag from a' bath of copper, while in the operation of the specific example ofmyprocess in which two om either white metal or copper. The slag existing over the white metal is rendered stiff and viscous by the addition of suitable quantities of silicious material, with the result that the white metal can' be poured frombelow with- This out the use of complicated apparatus thick, viscous slag-containing appreciable v amounts of copper is' retained in the converter and Worked up' Withthe next char 'e of matte into a clean slag, containing neg igible amounts of copper, finally poured from the matte. be seen that my process,

Thus it will either obviates the I necessity or reduces the expense of-the subsequent treatment above mentioned.

After the blister copper has been} pro.- duced, it is refined, usually in a reverberatoryfurnace. The slag obtained in this refining process is principally" composed-of a constitutes an important part tion. Not only is the silicious content of the ,high. temperature so that the lining is silicate of copper. reverberatory slag may be used as silicious materiai in the above process of bessemer izing copper matte and the use of this slag of my 'inven-' slag utilized for fluxing purposes, copper content is added to the bath.

Some difficulty has been encountered in but the .the'bessemerizing of copper matte-according to'well known processes because of the'tend- Bile-V -t bath 0','{attain, an excessively rapidly destroyed. I have found that when I use a converter the lining of which abuts tightly against the inner'vvalls of the metaL. lic converter ,shell, the temperature of the -xr'.easonably long life to the lining.

that slag s poured from-a fpour slags whiehcl'ean slag Is I have found that this excellent path for the conductivity of heat to the shell and the transmission of heat therefrom to the atmosphere. If,- on the. othenihand, the basic or neutral lining is mattevery thick and especiall if it is also insulated from the steel shel of the converter, the lining will attain the temperature of the charge; the latter. must therefor he maintained at. a yellow heat to insure a I I have alsofound that the temperature of the bath can controlled by forcing varied quantities of steam under prcssure,preferably superheated steam, with the air blast into the coriverten. I have found also that the temperature can such as reverberatory slag to cause the reaction between the copper oxide of said material and the matte produces a lowering of the temperature. 1

I have found that it is advantageous to responding to a cream-white color. If operated at a lower temperature, which eor sents a yellow appearance, 'fi'cult to keep the tWyer rod, resulting in the rapid Weari'ng away of the lining at the .zone of the t'wyersand thefincrease of the blast pressure. jIf the'bath is at a yellow heat, it maybe 'quickly increased to a cream-white'heatby the addition of carbonaceous matter, such as per cent of the Weight of obviouslyresults in a saving of power and inincreased .life of the lining especially at the..zone of the twyers;

"converter will be higher when the sla is If the linin r is thick-and insulated from the steel she l, the bath must, be kept at a yellow heat. If now no other means than charging silicious material into the converter itwill be found necessary to take a con- 'On the other hand, if the converter is lined with a thin lining of basic or neutral bricks of, for example,.six to twelve inches in thickness, which are backed up tightly operated atsilica and manifestly resulting in gieater economies ofoperation.' In this case the slag may contain 18% of silica or less, such a slag being greatly preferred over one containing 27% of silica-because there is a more" valuable as an iron flux for the blast operate the converters at a temperature c0r-' time without, resorting to excessive use off low in silica than when it is high insi ica..

is availed of for controlling the temperature,

\ 11-5 'verter slag containing about 27% of silica."

smaller amount to handle and because it is I be controlled by adding. sil cious material wh1ch' -conta1ns coper the matte e responds to that of the slag when it preit would be dif the twyers free fromaccreinc coal, preferably in an amount. lessthan one. I

the charge. This.

I have found that-the temperature of the I 12o against the-steelshell, the charge can be temperature higher than that 'of the lining, thus producinga slag lbw in furnace or smelting reverberatory furnace. Moreover, in order to bessemerize mattes higher than 60% in copper, the converter slag must not contain more than 20% of silica; otherwise the charge Will be too cold to finish roperly. It is ordinarily very difficult t-o essemerize such high grade mattes which are poured into the converter at a low temperature, Without the use of extraneous fuel, My process of preheating the silicious material, as described above, is therefore of especial importance when high grade mattes, which are low in fuel values, are being treated.

I claim: I

1. The improvement in the art of bessemerizing matte which consists in introducing silicious material into a converter upon the molten charge therein, which material thus become heated but chemically remains unchanged, removing the charge from said material and utilizing said heated ma- 2. The improvement in the art of bes- 5 semerizing copper matte which consists in introducing silicious material into a converter upon the molten charge therein, in suflicient amount to form a thick, viscous mass upon said charge, removing the charge from the converter While allowing said mass to remain therein and introducing matte into the converter 'upon said mass.

3. The improvement in the art of bessemerizing copper matte which consists in reacting upon matte in the converter with a slag composed essentially of copper-silicate.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscrib mg Witnesses.

JAMES B. HERRESHOFF, JR. Witnesses V JOHN A. FERGUSON,

FRANK F. KIRKPATRICK. 

